Global Climate

The pattern of weather over a long period of time. Weather patterns for about 30 years can be used to describe the ____ of a particular place.

The total amount of greenhouse gases released by a person, family, building, organization, or company each year. This includes the amount of greenhouse gases released from direct use (such as heating a home or driving a car) and from indirect use (such as the amount of fuel needed to produce a good or a service).

An energy-rich type of fuel that is created from dead plant and animal material trapped between layers of rock deep within the Earth. Over millions of years, heat and pressure transform this material. Some examples are coal, oil, and natural gas. Humans burn this to make energy. When burned, they release carbon dioxide.

A dark-colored rock that is mined from the Earth's surface and can be burned to create energy. This is a type of fossil fuel.

Sources of energy that take a long time to form, such as fossil fuels, because they take millions of years to make, and we are burning them more quickly than they are being formed.

A natural resource that can be made or regrown as fast as it is being used. Some examples are wind power or solar energy, which are both used to make electricity.

A natural community of plants, animals, and other organisms and the physical environment in which they live and interact.

A natural or human-made gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. The Earth's temperature remains just right because of these gases; otherwise Earth would be too cold for us to survive. Examples include carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, water vapor, and nitrous oxide. The three main gases are: carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor.

A colorless, odorless greenhouse gas that is released from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This is an example of a greenhouse gas and it has contributed the most to the increase in greenhouse gases that has led to global warming.

A colorless, odorless greenhouse gas that is produced when plants, animals, and garbage decay. It is produced naturally and as a result of people's activities. Methane is the most abundant greenhouse gas. Large amounts of methane are released by cattle farming (cows*), waste dumps, rice farming and the production of oil and gas.

A greenhouse gas that is released by chemical fertilizers and burning fossil fuels; it has a global warming potential 310 times that of carbon dioxide.

The process by which greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun and reflect it back to Earth rather than letting it leave the planet. If this did not exist, the earth's temperature would be too cold for humans to survive. Too much greenhouse gases, however, has led to global warming.

When air pollution causes the rain that falls to become more acidic. When this collects in bodies of water, this is harmful to plants and animals because they cannot survive in water with high acidity.

a substance that contaminates the air or water; these can cause problems in ecosystems as well as health problems in humans

This cycle is a process where carbon dioxide travels from the atmosphere into living organisms and the Earth, then back into the atmosphere. Plants take carbon dioxide from the air along with water and photosynthesis from the sun and use it to make food. Animals then eat the food and carbon is stored in their bodies and released. Most of the carbon they consume is naturally exhaled as carbon dioxide. The CO2 then is returned to the atmosphere where the plants use it again.